Prior to the present invention, certain limitations of static eliminators exist. Static eliminators have ionizing points that act to ionize the charge on material passing by them, in order to remove the static charge from the material. Static eliminators are used in a number of different industries that utilize machines that generate static charge. Such industries include, for example, the printing industries, the packaging industries, the paper industries, the textile industries, the plastics industries, the converting industries, the manufacturing industries, and the like. Examples of such static eliminators with potential limitations include static eliminating brushes, tinsel, cords, fabric, larger point or wire assemblies and various powered static eliminating devices and equipment. Passive static eliminators such as tinsel, conductive and static dissipative brushes, conductive cords and conductive fabric can sometimes result in contamination from the slivers and/or thin strips, fibers and pieces that can break off. They can hold and hide contamination and be difficult to clean and wash, whereas larger wires assemblies are generally less efficient with respect to ionization because their points tend to be larger and less sharp and if sharpened, the points make them a skin puncture hazard for operators. Generally, passive ionizing points are made from fibers that get dirty, damaged or matted down while in use. Eventually, the fibers become less efficient at ionizing the charge. Additionally, these fine fibers sometimes break away from the static eliminator and get accidently caught into the machine which could damage the machine, or mix into product that the machine is producing which contaminates the product. There are many other industries such as food, clean rooms, medical or pharmaceutical industries that would benefit from static eliminators that cannot contaminate, lose material, hide foreign material and that could be cleaned, washed, treated, sterilized, etc. However, often these fibers can hide and hold foreign material, are difficult to clean and cannot be adapted to the requirements of the application.
Hence, a need exists for a static eliminator that protects these fibers and reduces the damage done to the fibers. A further need exists for static eliminators that allow these fibers to be effective for longer periods of time, as compared to non-protected or less-protected fibers. It would be advantageous to develop a static eliminator that is durable and can be washed, cleaned and/or sterilized depending on its particular application. Yet, another need exists for creating a static eliminator that has characteristics for the environment for which it is being used e.g., in high heat, cold, chemical exposure, abrasion, treatments, vibration, and the like.